In my previous dispatch, I mentioned that every coach has three major constraints:
- The individual talent of the players
- The team talent of the players
- How well they learn and execute what they are taught.
Each of these warrants a deeper look.
1. The Individual Talent of the Players
In general there are four kinds of players:
- Your star players; they start every game
- The players that complement your star players, most of whom start
- Your first players off the bench whose job is to relieve your starters and complement players
- Your bench players whose value is mostly in practice and who could improve over time in bench or complementary roles. Rarely do these players become stars.
The individual talents of star basketball players include any combination of the following skills:
- Shooting
- Scoring
- Passing
- Defense
- Rebounding
- Running
- Jumping
- Dribbling
I discriminate between scorers and shooters. In general, shooters are more efficient and do not need the ball as much as scorers. Allen Iverson is great scorer but his shooting percentage indicates he’s not a great shooter.
2. The Team Talent of the Players
The team talents of any basketball player should include any combination of the following skills:
- Leadership
- Courage
- Intelligence
- Competitiveness
- Willingness to prepare to win
3. The Talent To Learn & Execute What They Are Taught
- Purpose of what is being taught is understood by the player
- Process used to teach is bought into by the player
- Payoff is the execution of what has been taught via the coaching process
Coaches influence Individual and Team Talent. Team talent is often an attribute a player has naturally or figures out over the course of his or her playing career. Individual talent is god-given, yes it can be improved, but some players have it and some don’t.
Most coaches want their best players to blend Individual and Team Talent into a style of play that can be taught and executed. Every season starts with that goal in mind, sometimes it comes together easily, some other seasons you feel like you have the carry the team on your back every step of the way. That’s just the way it is sometimes.
Coaches get paid to manage these constraints at every level of play. It’s up to the coach to understand the team well enough to manage it effectively.
If you don’t have a very talented team, you have to look for something other than wins to measure progress. The lessons players and coaches learn from participating in a team sport should be more valuable than just your won-loss record.
